In 1961, the average UK 20-something sat in the upper third of the income distribution after deducting housing costs, but the subsequent 50 years have seen a dramatic reversal in their fortunes. Explore the UK’s widening generation gap over income with this interactive graphic. Read more

From General Motors in the 1950s, to Apple today, the list of the top US companies by net profits tell a story about how the American economy has changed through the ages. Explore this history with our interactive graphic. Read more

It is said that money makes the world go round, but in football’s transfer market we can be a little more specific on that money’s provenance. Our interactive graphic explores the net spend of the 265 clubs in world football to have each spent £10m or more in total since 1980, grouped by country.

Any guesses on the identity of the country whose clubs spend the most? Read more

There are signs that the 40 per cent fall in oil prices might not deliver the expected stimulus. Chris Giles assesses the outlook for the global economy while FT reporters look at the prospects for key exporters and importers.

By Wednesday night it is almost certain there will be a new name atop the goal scoring charts of European club football’s elite competition.

Lionel Messi currently sits level with former Real Madrid star Raul on 71 goals, and behind them is Cristiano Ronaldo on 70. Either Messi or Ronaldo could become the outright leader when their sides play on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

And the fierce competition between Messi and Ronaldo may even be ushering in a new higher scoring era. The goals-per-game ratio across all players declined steadily from four per match in the late 1950s to settle around 2.5 in the past decade, but has jumped back up to three in the past five seasons.

Looking back across the Champions League and its predecessor the European Cup, the 100 highest scoring players are packed with modern greats. And this is no coincidence – there are 126 matches in the current format, excluding qualifiers, up from fewer than 60 in the early years of the European Cup.

But that hasn’t stopped some of the greats of yesteryear breaking into the upper echelons of that top 100.

Alfredo di Stefano – one of 22 Real Madrid players on the list – scored 49 goals in the 1950s and 1960s, placing him sixth in the all-time rankings. Portugal and Benfica star Eusebio is two places behind on 46. So what happens when we adjust the absolute goal tallies for the number of matches each player took part in?

Eusebio tops the rankings, followed by former Manchester United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy. Messi, Raul and Ronaldo complete the top five, and then Ronaldo’s team mate Karim Benzema is sandwiched between two men who stopped playing before he was born – di Stefano and the Hungarian Ferenc Puskas. Read more

Manufacturing and technology giants Samsung, Hyundai, SK and LG are examples of chaebol – multinational Korean conglomerates with labyrinthine ownership structures, often controlled by the founding family. Use our interactive graphic to explore the relationships between companies in each chaebol Read more

US prosecutors are offering immunity deals to junior traders in London as they try to gather evidence against banks and more senior staff in the investigation into alleged currency market manipulation. The Forex scandal is, at its core, a story about alleged wrongful sharing of information to boost trading profits. In this interactive, the FT has compiled 30 foreign exchange traders and sales staff who so far have been suspended, placed on leave or fired amid regulatory investigations that started in 2013. Read more

Which pieces are the most likely to be captured in the early rounds? What about the longest survivors? Which remain fringe actors early on before being thrown into the action as the stakes rise? Read more

Pity the white queen’s pawn. It tends to survive only one in every four games.

That statistic comes from an analysis of 2.2m master-level tournament games conducted by Oliver Brennan. But statistical analysis has found that overall white wins about 37 per cent of the time to Black’s 28 per cent. Read more

They cost billions of dollars, symbolise economic power and are photographed by millions, but the world’s tallest buildings also compete on a lesser known measure that pushes the limits of modern engineering: elevator speed. These ultra-fast lifts can reach speeds of 20 metres per second (45 mph) and feature technologies that use heat resistant brakes, mitigate excess vibration and adjust for air pressure to prevent ear blockages. Our graphic shows the top speeds of elevators in eight of the world’s tallest and most famous buildings, and how far they have traveled since this web page loaded Read more